Do Christians Fall Asleep?

Having been brung up on the King James Version of the Bible, I was familiar with such verses as these:

“After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:6).

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51).

Modern versions, however, render such passages differently. For instance, the NRSV: “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died” (1 Cor. 15:6). “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51).

In the KJV (more literally translating the Greek), Christian believers generally did not “die.” They “fell asleep.” Why the change in newer versions? Is theology at stake here?

Why do we so easily say that Christians “die,” when the New Testament teaches that really only the body dies, and even that death is not permanent? For the New Testament insists on the resurrection of the body; the reuniting of body and spirit in wholeness; the full meaning of New Creation in the larger Renewed Creation. Not just naked soul survival.

Here was my question: Does the NT ever say that Christians have “died”? Or does it always use “fell asleep”? (whatever the tense). All four kindly responded.

Richard Middleton: “That’s a good question. [He suggested some good places to check.] The language of “sleep” in the NT seems to derive from the OT idea of someone ‘lying down’ with their ancestors.”

Fred Long: “Great question. I looked up some instances of apothnasko ‘to die’ in BDAG. Paul speaks of his own potential dying in Phil. 1:21. Heb. 9:27 speaks of humans dying once. Jesus predicts his own death in John 12:33 and 18:32. Peter envisions his own potential dying for Jesus as Messiah in Matt. 26:35; cf. Paul’s willingness to die in Acts 21:13.

“Rev. 14:13 speaks of blessedness for those who die in the Lord. Also, then there is Christ’s death affirmed in Rom. 5:8, 14:15; 1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:14f; 1 Thess. 5:10; 1 Pt. 3:18, etc. Finally, Paul affirms in Rom. 14:8 ‘if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.’

“So, there are many indications that Christians did not at all shy away from speaking of death, in general, or speaking specifically of their own, likely because Christ faced it so squarely and directly.”

Ben Witherington: “[The language of falling asleep] goes back to early Judaism, and Jesus uses it, for example of Jairus’ daughter. It seems to be a term used by those who believe in resurrection, hence death is only a temporary condition from which one arises healthy and well. It is not used to describe the condition of the dead, for example it is not used to suggest they are snoozing in the afterlife.

“Yes, Jesus and Paul both refer to death as well as sleep when it comes to Christians, but sleep is the preferred term due to the resurrection belief.”

Craig Keener: “‘Fall asleep’ was a regular idiom for death in antiquity, appearing both in literature and on tombstones, both in Jewish and Gentile sources. Because it’s a regular idiom, translators probably felt the need to render it in English idiom.
“Terms for dying apply to Christians in Acts 9:37, 21:13, 25:11; Rom. 8:36, 14:8; Phil. 1:21; certainly such language appears often for Jesus (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pt. 3:18).

“Nevertheless, your point is well taken, in that the NT emphasis is on our past death with/in Christ and consequently our sharing his resurrection. Death is a transition, but we do not grieve in the same way as those who have no hope.”

Reflection

The “point well taken” is that it is fully appropriate today to use “falling asleep” language when referring to the physical death of Christians. For Christians, death simply does not mean the same thing as it does to those who die without hope of bodily resurrection in Christ and the restored new heaven and earth. Creation healed.

So yes, there is a theological point.

It does seem to me that when NT writers use “death” with regard to believers, or to Jesus Christ, they are in context emphasizing physical death. Perhaps it was this that Peter had in mind when he wrote: “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Pt. 3:18).

Our problem is that we have no English verb that means “to die physically but not to die spiritually,” or “to die in the spacetime physical dimension but not in larger transcendent dimensions.”

In the meantime I still prefer, for Christians, the language of “falling asleep”—not at all to sugarcoat the harsh and painful reality of physical death, but to signal that when we say a sister or brother in Christ has “died,” we realize that we are saying only half the truth.

Further thought: Richard Middleton shares these articles on this subject:

International Representative, Manchester Wesley Research Centre in Manchester, England. Formerly professor of the history and theology of mission, Asbury Theological Seminary (1996-2006); Professor of Wesley Studies, Tyndale Seminary, Toronto, 2007-2012. Has taught and pastored in São Paulo, Brazil; Detroit, Michigan; and Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Snyder's main interest is in the power and relevance of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom for the world today and tomorrow. Works include The Problem of Wineskins, Community of the King, and most recently, Jesus and Pocahontas: Gospel, Mission, and National Myth.

4 COMMENTS

Oh, Howard, there you go again, bothering us in our slumber! Making us reexamine our cherished assumptions that we thought were essential Christian doctrines. Not only is your blog stimulating and troubling, the comments from your four friends and the two articles Richard recommended pretty well put the old assumptions to bed, for me. Now what? I’ll have to rethink it all. Thank you, I guess.

Thanks, Linda. Just trying to stick with the Bible & the gospel! Those who have fallen asleep in Jesus (your parents and mine, for example), are joyfully with the Lord, and not far away—awaiting the general resurrection; the new heaven and earth. We don’t know what all they see and understand, but we can be and are reassured. No fear; no worries.

In my forthcoming book, “Jesus & Pocahontas,” I imagine what it must have been like for Pocahontas (who was catechized and baptized by the Anglican [Puritan] missionary Alexander Whitaker) to find herself in the New Creation – and find much that was familiar, as well as all that was totally new.

Howard-I’ve been thinking about that very language for months. A
related and maybe bigger question is “where are believers who have
fallen asleep? Are they simply “with the Lord” and leave it at that?
What part if any of the dead believer is with Him? I’m bothered about
traditional answers about believers going directly to heaven, which
seems to diminish “the general resurrection in the last day” language
(that was historically part of the committal service at the gravesite).
If we talk of some aspect of us living on, how do we avoid dualism? Do
we believe in the immortality of the soul–and isn’t that contrary to
resurrection? Please keep blogging on this subject!!
Hoping in the resurrection,Joe

First
of all, the Bible uses “soul” in the Hebrew sense, not in the Greek
dualistic [non-material] sense, so it essentially means “person.” So in
that sense we believe in the immortality of the “soul” – understanding
that from the point of physical death until the general resurrection/New
Creation, body and spirit are temporarily separated, “unclothed”
(interesting how Paul uses that metaphor).

Where
are believers who have fallen asleep? Not far away! They are restfully,
joyfully (but maybe slightly impatiently [Bk of Revelation]) with the
Lord – luxuriating in all the expanded dimensions they couldn’t see on
“this side.”

They are dimensionally in another place – not physically so, I believe.

“Heaven”
I think simply means that “dwelling place” that is plenty spacious
(“many rooms”) where believers are in the immediate presence of Jesus,
“Paradise,” awaiting the Great Fulfillment, the final “it is finished”
(which of course is really a new Big Beginning).

But
of course, to quote Paul, “I show you a mystery.” But a mystery now
partially, and then fully and gloriously and open-endedly revealed.